A couple of independent films are opening in Austin for a regular run this week: Free Zone at Dobie (as part of the AFS@Dobie collaboration) and Who Killed the Electric Car? at Arbor. In fact, Arbor is hosting an electric car rally this weekend to promote the new documentary. Cars will be on display at the theater on Friday night and all day Saturday.

Because it's summertime, Austin has a number of kid-friendly film events this week ... and a few for adults, too.

• The documentary Nobelity gets one last theatrical run in Austin, on Saturday and Sunday at the Arbor. Director Turk Pipkin will attend the 7 and 9 pm screenings on both evenings.
• Deep Eddy Pool's Saturday night film is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There's nothing like watching fire-breathing dragons from the comfort of a cool swimming pool.

This week's AFS@Dobie collaborative series entry is the film I Am a Sex Addict, playing throughout the week at Dobie. Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi will attend the 7:30 screenings on Friday and Saturday to introduce the film and hold a Q&A afterwards. Also at Dobie, actor Scott Mechlowicz will attend the 7 pm Friday night screening of Peaceful Warrior, in which he has a costarring role. Other limited-release films opening around Austin this week include Wordplay, Krrish, and the Sydney Pollack-directed documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry.

• The Paramount's Summer Movie Classics series is back on schedule this week. The musical Cabaret screens on Sunday. An Al Pacino double-feature on Sunday and Monday includes Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico. And on Thursday and Friday, Marlon Brando takes over the screen in On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire.

The documentary Nobelity is a "what can we do to help?" movie, and as such, has an unusual distribution plan. The film's opening weekend is meant to coincide with Earth Day, April 22. The distributors have coordinated screenings with local and national non-profit groups at churches, community centers and independently owned movie theaters. In Austin, the movie will screen this weekend at a church and a wilderness preserve, and will play at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek in May; check out the variety in the list of screening locations across the country.

Nobelity combines several styles of documentary: the old-school documentary talking-heads style seen mostly on TV these days, the personal documentary popularized by Michael Moore (although Ross McElwee does it better), and a sweeping panoramic visual style, like the film Baraka. The movie succeeds best at the panoramic visual style, and least when the talking heads go on for too long.

Director Turk Pipkin structured the movie's story around his quest to learn more about the world's problems and the ways he might help. He turns to Nobel Prize winners for information and advice, and travels around the world to chat with a number of Nobel Laureates. The movie alternates between interviews and outdoor montage sequences set in the regions where the Laureates were interviewed, to give us an idea of the personality of those regions.

It feels like an explosion of Austin film news and events is going on this week. In addition to the screenings listed below, some limited-release movies are finally reaching Austin: Summer Storm, Don't Come Knocking, Awesome; I F***kin' Shot That!, and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.

• The Cine Las Americas film festival starts on Wednesday 4/19 and runs through Sunday 4/23. This week's issue of the Austin Chronicle contains previews and recommendations for the festival.
• Held over: Austin filmmaker Kyle Henry's film Room has extended its run at Alamo on South Lamar for another week.
• Nacho Libre is getting an Austin premiere, done in a very Austin way: outdoors and with live wrestling. Director Jared Hess will attend the Lucha Libre Extravaganza on Saturday 5/27, outdoors at the Glenn. You can buy tickets now or reserve a free ticket if you promise to wear a Mexican wrestling mask.